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2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. B. HAMMOND.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

No. 249,930. Patented Nov. 22,1881.

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2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. B. HAMMOND.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE. No. 249,930. Patented Nov. 22,1881.

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mamm UNITED STATES PATENT Orrrcn.

JAMES B. HAMMOND, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 249,930, dated November22, 1881.

Application filed March 1, 1875. "Renewed October 15, 1875. Againrenewed September 16, 1876.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, J AMES B. HAMMOND, of thecity of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Type-Writing Machines;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,making a part of this specification.

My invention relates to that class of inventions commonly designatedtype-writing machines, and has for its object to simplify theconstruction and produce accuracy in the operation of such machines.

Previous to my invention it has been customary to produce theimpressions of the different letters and signs at the center of a circlearound which the levers or arms carrying the type were arranged, thesaid levers or arms being operated by keys arranged at the front of themachine and connected by suitable mechanism to the levers, and properadjusting devices for automatically causingthe paper to travel properlyfrom one side of the machine to the other, and vertically, for obviousreasons. This arran gementand construction necessarily require greatcomplication of machinery, and the typelevers, being arranged radiallyaround a circle, areliable to become deranged or be in the way of eachother when the machine is operated upon with great rapidity; and,moreover, the type levers being arranged radially around a commoncenter, and in order to economize space, only a series of leversprinting capital letters are used. My invention is designed to overcomeall the objections, and at the same time produce a much cheaper and morepractical machine; and to these ends myinvention consists, first, of atype-wheel havin g the letters or characters secured suitably to itsperiphery or face, and provided with a shaft having during a portion ofits extent a quick screw-thread, upon which runs a nut fixed to avertical moving frame adapted to move a given distance, according to theletter or character to be printed, whereby the type-wheel is rapidlyrotated so as to bring the desired letter or character to the properposition to be impressed upon the paper; secondly, in the peculiarconstruction and operation of the carriage upon which the paper issecured; and, thirdly, in the peculiar construction and arrangement ofthe several parts of the apparatus with the key-board, all as will behereinafter more fully set forth.

To enable those skilled to more fully understand myinvention, I willdescribe its construction and arrangement, referring by letters to theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a front view of a machineembracing my improvements; Fig. 2, a vertical cross-section in rear ofthe type-wheel shaft, as seen at the line 00 :r of Fig. 4.; Fig. 3, arear view; and Fig. 4, a transverse sectional view of that shown in Fig.2, takenat the line y y, Fig. 3.

Similar letters denote like parts in the several figures.

A is a suitable frame; B, a wheel adapted to carry upon its face suchtype or characters as may be desirable. This wheel B is mounted upon avertical shaft, O,having a foot-bearing at the bottom of the machine anda hearing at the top in a horizontal bracket, D, as clearly seen at Fig.1.

E is a frame adapted to move vertically in guides or ways F F.

To the top edge of the bottom rail of the frame E is firmly secured aprojecting plate, G, through which the type-wheel shaft 0 passes. Thisplate G, having a thread corresponding to the quick-thread on the shaft0, serves as a nut, and when the frame E is moved it causes the shaft 0to rotate correspondingly to the vertical motion of the said frame, aswill be presently more fully explained. G is a similar plate on theunder side of the top rail of the frame E, and. may be provided with asimilar thread operating conjointly with the nutGon the shaft at theupper end, and this secondary nut or guide G may be smooth and simplyserve to guide the upper end of the frame.

H H, (to, represent any number of keys corresponding to the letters andcharacters ar ranged around the edge of the type-wheel. These keys orlevers are hung or pivoted upon a horizontal bridge, J, so that theirtop surface shall all be in the same plane, and they all have the sameextent of movement, and

the rotation of the type-wheel so as to bring with the bottom edge orsurface of the frame E,which is a regular incline, made withmathematical precision and with relation to the keys,

so that the frame is lifted the proper and varying distances by therespective keys or levers, and the helix of the quick screw-thread uponthe shaft 0 and in the nut G being also mathematically determined, thewheel B is rotated the proper and varying distances according to themovement of the frame E. Thus when the forward end of any key-lever isdepressed to its full limit the letter on the typewheel corresponding tothe key is brought into position.

I is a platform-frame pivoted centrally to the sides of the frame of themachine. To the back rail of this frame, and at its center, is hinged anupright arm, K, which is slotted or cut away near the top, so as tostraddle a starwheel, L, which is journaled within a hangerframe, M, asmore clearly seen at Figs. 3 and 4. The upper end of the arm Kisslightly hookshaped, so as to grasp successively the points 1 2 3, &c.,of the wheel L and turn the same, which is accomplished by the rear endof the key-levers lifting up the front rail of platformframe I, whichforces down the rear rail, and with it the arm K, the hook end graspingthe front of the wheel L and turning it just one tooth. The back of theopposite toothis forced against the inside of a flat strip, N, forcingit back until the point of the tooth reaches a slot, 0, therein. (Thismovement of the strip Nis seen in dotted lines at Fig. 4.) Thelower endof this strip N, being hinged to the frame A, permits this vibration,and the upper end, being bifurcated, straddles a printing-hammer, P,which, bythe onward movement of the strip caused by the pressure of thetooth of the wheel L, is carried away from the face of the type-wheel orinterposed sheet being printed upon,and when the operating-tooth hasreached the slot 0 the recoil ofthe strip N drives the hammer forward soas to strike the paper and force it against the type which is inposition. The hammer P is sustained and guided by a suitable spring, R,and another one, S, the latter secured obliquely to and between thestrip N and arm K, this spring S serving also to lift the platform-frameI to throw the arm K up into position for again grasping the wheel L.

Within the platform-frame I is pivoted a secondary platform, T, having asuitable spring underneath the front side to bring its forward side downto a suitable stop, and the extreme rearends of thekey-levers H,striking the front side of this platform T, tilt it up, causing aratchet, a, on the top side of this platform to come in contact with thefoot of a gravitypawl secured to the sheet-carrying frame, by whichcontact and movement the sheet-frame is automatically driven along toproperly space the letters. The movement of the front side of theplatform T, and consequently the distance the sheet-frame is movedlaterally, is determined by the bevel or extent of the heel of thekey-levers H, so that the required spacing of the letters ispredetermined by said bevels.

It will be borne in mind that the levers H and platforms I and T andframe E are so arranged relatively to each other that the movement ofthe levers H to produce an impression upon the paper shall successivelylift the platform I, platform T, and frame E, so that the printinghammer shall be drawn back, the proper spacing produced by the lateralmovement of the sheet-frame, the typewheel rotated by the rising of theframe E, so as to bring the proper letterin line with the hammer, andinstantly afterward the recoil and blow of the hammer to produce theimpression.

U is a bottom and V a top guide or way, in which the horizontalpaper-carrying frame W is supported and guided. The lower one, U, isprovided on the front side with a ratchetbar, b, into which the point ofa pawl, c, pivoted to the sheet-frame, drops, and is held by a suitablespring, (I, which prevents the return of the frame W as it is fed alonguntil the proper time, as will be presently explained.

X is a gravity-pawl pivoted to the lower rail of the frame W. Its toeend, being caught by the ratchet on the front of the platform T, forcesthe frame W along laterally, asherelnbefore described. The gravity-pawlX and spring-pawl 0 have their ends above their pivoted points andslightly curved, so that a plate, Z, secured to a longitudinally-movablebolt, e, passing over the ends, will lift the toes of the two pawls andpermit the retraction or recoil ofthe frame W by any suitable weight orspring mechanism. Thisis accomplished at the proper time and when a linehas been completed by the end of the bolt e (which is a little longerthan the width of the frame W, and which is guided and supported withinthe bottom rail of the sheet-frame) coming in contact with the side ofthe frame A, which forces the bolt to-.

ward the opposite side, driving the plate Zoverthcendsofthepawlsandlifting them outof contact with their respectiveratchets, and also protruding the bolt at the opposite side of theframe. The retracting spring or weight of the frame W, drawing it backtoposition to begin again, forces the now protruding end of the boltagainst the opposite side of the frame, and, returning the bolt to theposition seen at Figs. 1 and 2, releases the pawls and places themagainin contact with their respective ratchets. The sheet is secured tostill another frame, W, which is adapted to slide vertically within theframe WV by tongue-and-groove or V- shaped joint. ()n the rear of one ofthe sides of this vertically-sliding frame W are located, at properdistances apart, pegs or pins f, and to the frame W is pivoted aheel-aud-toe spring-pawl, g, having an arm, h, extending outwardly adistance about equal to the protrusion of the bolt 0, so that when theframe W has traveled across the machine and the bolt 0 is forced back soas to lift the pawls and permit the retraction of the framesimultaneously with the bolt e, the arm It. will come in contact withthe side of the frame, forcing in the heel of the pawl g and releasingthe toe from the pin f it has been holding, so that the lifting-spring,of suitable construction, shall lift the frame W and the sheet attachedthereto until another pin f comes under the heel, the spaces between thepins being so adjusted that this movement of the heel-and-toe lever atthe end of each trip of the frame W will allow the frame W and sheet tobe lifted sufficiently to make the proper spaces between the lines.

Y is a spacing-key which comes in contact with the front end of theplatform T, being so shaped or cut away as to avoid contact with theframes I and E, and is designed for no other purpose than producing thelateral move- .ment, of the frame W to produce extra spacing or tofinish a line. B is' a suitable spring for contributing to the rapiddropping of the frame E when the key-lever is released. It also servesto hold the frame E in contact with the key-lever, and thus to arrestthe wheel and hold it in position as long as the key is depressed.

Of course many changes and modifications may be made in the constructionand arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of myinvention. For instance, instead of the top surfaces of the key-leversbeing all in the same plane and the bottom edge of the frame E being anincline, the bottom edge of frame E may be in a horizontal plane and thetop surfaces of the key-levers enlarged or raised to accomplish theresult desired. Or the parts may be so shifted that while bearing thesame mechanical relation to each other they may lie in different planesto those shown in the drawings.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a series of finger key-levers, each of whichoperates to impel the type-wheel, of an oscillating type-wheel,mechanism between the finger key-levers and type- .wheel, whereby themotion imparted to the key-levers is transmitted to the type-wheel, andmeans for retaining the type-wheel in the desired position, allsubstantially as set forth.

2. In combination with the type-wheel and threaded shaft 0, the'movableframe E and nut G, whereby the vertical movement of the frame E shallcause the proper presentment of the type, as hereinbefore set forth.

3. The frame E, the bottom rail of which is inclined, in combinationwith a series of keylevers and a type-wheel, arranged as described,whereby the depression of any key will lift the frame to a predetermineddistance and cause the type-wheel to be rotated to present the typecorresponding to the key in alignment with the impression-hammer, as andfor the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

4. The combination of the platform-frame I, hinged arm K, star-wheel L,strip N, provided with a slot, 0, and hammer P, constructedsubstantially as described, whereby the tilting of the frame I willproduce the necessary movement of the hammer at the proper time toimpress the type upon the interposed sheet, as hereinbefore set forth.

5. The pivoted tilting platform T, provided with a ratchet, a, incombination with the curved or beveled ends of the levers H, whereby agiven and predetermined movement of the platform T is produced, as andfor the purpose described.

6. In combination with the platform T and ratchet a, thehorizontal-movin g frame W and pawl X, whereby the frame W is movedlaterally for spacing, substantially as hereinbefore described.

7. In combination with the guide U and frame W, the ratchet b andspring-pawl 0, whereby the frame is held against retraction from thefeed until the proper time, as and for the purpose described.

8. In combination with the frame W and pawls X 0, having their endscurved, the bolt 0 and plate Z, whereby the pawls are alternately liftedand allowed to drop as the frame approaches the opposite sides of themachine, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

9. The frame W, provided with pins f, in combination with theheel-and-toe spring-pawl g, provided with an extension, h, whereby theframe W is permitted to be drawn up a given distance by a suitablespring as the extension comes in contact with the side of the machine,as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

10. The frame E, key-levers H, platform-frame I, platform T, arm K,wheel L, strip N, provided with a slot, 0, and hammer P, combined andarranged substantially as hereiubefore set forth, so that the movementof the several parts shall progress in the order described,substantially as and for the purpose described.

11. The spring S, arranged obliquely and combined with the arm K andstrip N, whereby it performs the double function of lifting the arm Kand platform to which it is hinged, and also aids in shooting theprinting-hammer at the proper time, as hereinbefore described.

JAS. B. HAMMOND. [L'. s] Witnesses WM. A. HAMMOND, A. STEINHEIMER.

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